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On the pages of these true bush flying stories, a floatplane races toward the shore and crashes in front of the lodge, Jake’s plane engine quits twice, a forest fire threatens Hardscrabble, a gale flies the plane minus a pilot, Jake searches for lost guests at night, firefighters are trapped between walls of flames and a boy must be airlifted after suffering a compound leg fracture.

A Review By Bill Bushnell As Seen On CentralMaine.com:

Mainers love to write memoirs about their lives, work, hobbies and careers. Most are pretty ordinary, some are quite interesting and a few are even extraordinary. Jake Morrel’s is one of those last few.

“Hardscrabble Lodge” is Morrel’s very entertaining memoir of his career as a commercial floatplane pilot and owner of the Hardscrabble Lodge, a hunting and fishing sporting camp on Spencer Lake in the remote wilderness of northern Maine.

Early chapters describe Morrel’s exciting job flying a floatplane for Folsom’s Air Service in Greenville, ferrying hunters and fishermen to remote lakes and ponds, flying in supplies to sporting camps and flying rescues of the injured, the sick and the stupid long before the days of the LifeFlight helicopters.

Later chapters vividly tell how he and his wife, Beth, bought a rundown sport camp, rebuilt it themselves, and opened the Hardscrabble Lodge. She cooked and ran the business, he maintained the lodge and cabins, guided the sports and flew his floatplane.

In “Plane Lift-Off,” he tells of bush flying in all types of weather, in all four seasons, with floats or skis on his plane. In “A Floatplane Can Transport Anything,” he describes how he figured out how his floatplane could haul food, building materials, refrigerators, even dead bodies.

In the fascinating chapter “Scientists Like to Look Down,” Morrel tells of charters carrying scientists, geologists and foresters on scientific flights to check wildlife surveys (eagles, ducks, deer), as well as changes in forest growth and signs of insect infestation.

Other stories include how a guest’s St. Bernard dog discovered a forest fire, how he caught two propane thieves in a tense woodland confrontation, and how every Sunday he had to teach novice sportsmen basic firearm safety and land navigation.

Hardscrabble Lodge

Excitement and terror are combined with a practical guide to wilderness survival. Bush flying challenges and techniques are explored in detail.

On the pages of these true Maine bush flying stories, a floatplane races toward the shore and crashes in front of the lodge, Jake’s plane engine quits twice, a forest fire threatens Hardscrabble, a gale flies the plane minus a pilot, Jake searches for lost guests at night, firefighters are trapped between walls of flames and a boy must be airlifted after suffering a compound leg fracture.

After Jake completed engineering school, one fact was obvious: Life behind a desk was the wrong choice.

So off to Maine with his young bride, Beth! A teaching job led to flying lessons and a lifelong love affair with planes. After several years of instruction and practice, a dream job as a commercial floatplane pilot materialized.

As a flying family, exposure to the numerous remote lodges in Maine prompted Jake and Beth to purchase a dilapidated set of remote buildings, which they rebuilt and named Hardscrabble.

Today, Jake and Beth are retired and live next to their air strip, ME32.

Morrel’s book reads like you are sitting around a campfire or possibly a wood burning stove in this case and listening to the tales of someone who’s done the things you only dream of.

On the pages of these true bush flying stories, a floatplane races toward the shore and crashes in front of the lodge, Jake’s plane engine quits twice, a forest fire threatens Hardscrabble, a gale flies the plane minus a pilot, Jake searches for lost guests at night, firefighters are trapped between walls of flames and a boy must be airlifted after suffering a compound leg fracture.